About the sculpture

From 2006 until 2010, working in harmony with the University of Saarland and HTW (Technical High School) under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Ing. Günter Schmidt-Gönner's direction with his Engineer students, Eugene Schinder and Bernd Eichenseer, the idea of the Solar Peace Sign was born.

The 7 meter Solar Sculpture was originally installed at the University of Saarland in Spring 2010 before touring to the Art Fair in Cologne in September 2010, represented by Alp Galleries.

It returned to the University of Saarland, the CIC Solar in Saarbrücken from 2012 to 2015.

The steel then remained in storage from 2016 to 2021.

Fred George refused to allow the steel to be melted for scrap. As a tribute to his sister Catherine George, who financially backed the original sculpture, he conceived a new positioning of its message to illustrate the current times we live in.

In the Spring of 2021, Mr. George and Professor Schmidt-Gönner teamed up with Walor Steel in Burbach to revise the peace sign.

Reflecting on the idea of peace being unstable, the left side of the sign was repositioned 1.5 meters lower, still mounted on the main column.

Mr. George was a visionary on what was to happen.

No one would have believed a war would start in Europe on February 24, 2022.

His extended team is led by Andrea Müller and his daughter, Emma Morisse George. Emma was the principal on the Mirrored Maquette. A full-scale styrofoam model was constructed in the garden to prepare for the tiling design. Michael Robillard was instrumental in the processes of mirroring and tiling the galvanized steel to a colorful monument for the neighborhood of Southwest Saarbrücken in Burbach. The mirrors reflect the weather of today's society.

Working with Bezirksbürgermeisterin, Isolde Ries, families of residents from Burbach were involved to decorate tiles for the sculpture during 2021.

The original steel was manufactured by G. BECKER GmbH, Hans - Georg Philipp Stahl - und Metallverarbeitung in St. Ingbert Germany. The firm was instrumental in the touring of the sculpture from 2010 /2011.

WALOR Stahlbau, under the guidance of Christine Simon, was commissioned to alter the steel to Mr. George’s new vision in April 2021. Walor installed the sculpture in Burbach in September 2021.

George and his team commenced tiling from October 2021 to the present. Antique tiles from Villeroy & Boch are placed at the top. The firm donated a variety of colored tiles.

Tamega Tiles from Hanover with their selection of Latin American and Spanish tiles added the life and color Mr. George was looking for, to set the mood of the sculpture.

The Mosaic Peace Sculpture is draped in the Ukrainian flag. We are now inviting the public to participate in finishing the tiling and to encourage public support for Ukraine.